Three men from Punjab held captive in Iran after being duped by agents, allege families

Three men from Punjab who intended to travel for work to Australia in April ended up in Iran instead and have gone missing, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

Their families alleged that they were abducted by a network of agents from Pakistan, who have asked for a ransom of Rs 18 lakh each.

The three men are Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur, Hushanpreet Singh from Sangrur, and Jaspal Singh from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, the Hindustan Times reported.

All of them were in contact with their families through video calls till May 17. Jaspal’s brother Ashok Kumar said that he was taken to Dubai on April 1 and kept there for a month. When Amritpal and Hushanpreet also arrived in Dubai on April 25, all three of them were taken to Tehran on May 1, Kumar said.

He added that the three men were then taken to a place where they were told to strip, The Indian Express reported. “They then made video calls to us and told us that they were kidnapped and were asked to transfer Rs 18 lakh each to bank accounts in Pakistan,” Kumar said.

The Indian Embassy in Tehran said it has taken up the matter strongly with the Iranian authorities and requested that the missing men be traced urgently. “We are also...

Read more

News